​When you study at Bendigo TAFE, you can be confident that you will receive a quality education and your rights will be protected. Bendigo TAFE is governed by a number of regulatory bodies and frameworks:

Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA)

Educational Services for Overseas Students (ESOS) framework

National Code of Practice for Registration Authorities and Providers of Education and Training to Overseas Students 2007

a number of other regulations that set the standards for teaching, facilities and service.

Quality educationWe are governed by the ASQA. The ASQA sets national standards that apply to all registered training providers. This ensures consistent standards across all registered training providers. It also means that students can move more easily from one study program to the next and from one training provider to the next. So no matter where students complete their training in Australia, employers can expect them to have developed the same skills. The standards are designed to meet industry expectations, so qualifications provide the skills employers need.

CRICOS registration​All education institutions that recruits, enrols or teaches international students must be registered CRICOS. Bendigo TAFE has CRICOS registration (provider number 01218G) and all of the courses that are delivered to international students have their own identifiable CRICOS registration.

Protecting your rights​Bendigo TAFE must also comply with the ESOS and a National Code of Practice (the code) in all our dealings with international students. The ESOS framework protects your right to:

receive, before enrolling, current and accurate information about the courses, fees, modes of study and other information from your provider and your provider’s agent

sign a written agreement with your provider before or as you pay fees, setting out the services provided, fees payable and information about refunds of course money

get the education for which you have paid or consumer protection that will allow you to receive a refund or to be placed in another course if your provider is unable to teach your course.

The ESOS framework also protects your right to know:

how to use your provider’s student support services

who your contact officer or officers are

whether you can apply for course credit when your enrolment is deferred, suspended or cancelled

what your provider’s requirements are for satisfactory progress in the courses you study

that attendance will be monitored for those courses

what will happen if you want to change providers

how to use your provider’s complaints and appeals process.

The code protects the interest of overseas students by ensuring appropriate consumer protection mechanisms exist and that welfare and support services and complaints and appeal mechanisms meet nationally consistent standards. In particular, student visas include a condition that requires the student to attend their classes and progress satisfactorily.

If a provider intends to cancel or suspend a student's enrolment, the student will have access to an internal complaints and appeal process. Registered providers are required to advise the designated authority (Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations) where a student's enrolment is deferred, temporarily suspended or cancelled. This can lead to the student’s visa being cancelled. The Code requires that a provider cannot report the cancellation or suspension of a student’s enrolment to the department until the student has been given the opportunity to seek a review.

The Ombudsman is an independent officer of the Victorian Parliament. His office provides a free service that investigates complaints about administrative actions taken by Victorian government departments, most statutory authorities and local government. Ombudsman Victoria is impartial, ethical and respectful of individual rights and the services offered are free. Universities and education providers created by Victorian legislation are within the jurisdiction of the Ombudsman.

The Ombudsman is an external body that students may direct complaints to under the Code.